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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Is this normal?

R

RyaneWillow2014

Greenlighter
Joined
Jul 25, 2014
Messages
41
So I doing opioid therapy for my chronic back and neck pain I am 19 and I have broken bones in my neck in the past and had a lot of back troubles throughout my life both in my muscles and my bones. Any ways I'm seeing a pain management doctor and we have discovered that tramadol, 5/325 hydrocodone, and 7.5/325 hydrocodone doesn't cut it for me.

My medicine is prescribed to be taken every 4 hours bc I have around the clock pain (so 6 hydrocodone 10/325 a day) I have problems with each dose lasting the full 4 hours and I am also having breakthrough pain several times throughout the day. I am also worried about the amount of acetaminophen I take on a daily basis. I have tried injections physical therapy you name it I've tried it none of which helped so it looking like I wil be taking pain medicine the rest of my life and I just don't like tht much acetaminophen every day.

So a few days ago at my most recent appt I asked my doctor if some type of long acting narcotic would be appropriate bc I feel like it would solve many issues. Such as the medicine not lasting the full 4 hours, reduce the acetaminophen intake, I could then take the hydrocodone for breakthrough pain, etc. we'll he was just completely petrified by the idea I guess bc I'm so young or whatever but he said that he needs to talk with my parents and close family members to make sure they're aware of the risks bc he's had 2 patients die this year.

I'm not trying to catch a buzz off my medicine at I've taken every single pill exactly how I was directed no exceptions even if 30 min into a dose my pain levels sky rocket I make myself wait until the 4 hour mark. I am 19 I am a legal adult why do my parents hve anything to do with it? I don't even live with my parents. My mother doesn't like the idea of me having to take powerful pain pills all day every day anyways but she has for the most part pushed that aside bc she has seen I've tried every other option.

But as soon as that doctor tells her that he's had 2 patients die from this and there's always a possiblity that I won't wake up the next morning that's gunna be it she'll lose it. So instead of prescribing an extended release medication he asked if I wanted to go to 6 oxycodone tablets a day and I said no I don't want to build my tolerance any more than I have to if I'm going to e doing this my whole life so he just toke me I could take 1 or 1 and a half every 4 hours so that's 9 a day. Is this normal to be taking this many pills a day and this much acetaminophen? Why was he so scared of a long acting narcotic?
 
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I can't give you an answer as to why he will not prescribe a longer acting opiate, but if I were you I would mention something about patient privacy. Why does he think its ok or necessary for him to speak with your family about your medication? I bet he's just trying to make sure there are not any alarming signals regarding your pain med intake, but still your treatment is between you and him, not anyone else.
 
HalleyHeroine said:
I can't give you an answer as to why he will not prescribe a longer acting opiate, but if I were you I would mention something about patient privacy. Why does he think its ok or necessary for him to speak with your family about your medication? I bet he's just trying to make sure there are not any alarming signals regarding your pain med intake, but still your treatment is between you and him, not anyone else.
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Agreed. Not to mention it is ignorant of him as a health care professional to encourage you to keep ingesting more and more acetaminophen, even after you expressing your distaste (and rightly so!). Especially if it is not helping your pain effectively, that could cause irreparable damage to your liver. I highly suggest seeking out another dr for a second opinion. Especially if he has had two patients die already? You need relief, the only logical next step is to get into a different DR for a second opinion before its to late. Good luck! and I truly hope you get it figured out and your pain regulated efficiently!
 
Agree with above post, you should check into another doctor, especially since he's had 2 patients die. He's got to be under scrutiny and maybe close to being sanctioned. The least he could do is give you oxycodone with no acetaminophen or the formulation with ibuprofen instead.
 
T. Calderone said:
Agree with above post, you should check into another doctor, especially since he's had 2 patients die. He's got to be under scrutiny and maybe close to being sanctioned. The least he could do is give you oxycodone with no acetaminophen or the formulation with ibuprofen instead.
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Exactly! 8(
 
I've been Leary of him from the very beginning just from some of the things he's said vs some of the things I've read online. I like to be very informed of what I'm taking and the treatments I'm trying. I also like to know other peoples experiences with the meds and treatment. For example one of the things he told me when I firs started with narcotics was that once you hit the highest dose that's it you have to get off of them and they will never work again. And made it seem like oxycodone is it once you hit that it's over. However through my research and experience with my treatment I've learned that there are many different strengths of hydrocodone and even more different strengths of oxycodone (and othe narcotics tha could be more effective depending on the person) and even long acting medicine that come in huge doses for example oxycontin. I learned that people often get both a long acting and a short acting narcotic prescribed for baseline around the clock and breakthrough pain. So it would take years and years to get to the point where I'm taking the strongest possible dose and could not possibly go any higher. And he said that once you build tolerance it neve goes away but I've found that there is such things as opiate holidays where you stop taking narcotics or a little built in an attempt to lower tolerance. Another thing my doctor told me when he gave me the first script for 5/325 hydrocodone was that the pills would sell for $25 each on the street. I'm not seeking drugs or a high at all but I'm not stupid either I know that's not even close to true and I was very confused on why he would tell someone that? To me that would increase the chances of someone selling them if they thought they could make that much. I just stuck with this doctor because after several months of doctors appts several weeks of physical therapy both of which did nothing and several trips to the ER for a handful of tramadol each time I had finally gotten to the point where someone had taken my pain seriously enough to give me strong medicine. And other than being weird and off in a lot of ways I feel like he does listen bc everytime I've said it's not strong enough. Even this past time he didn't give me what I thought would be best ( which I am not a doctor so what I thinks best might not be best at all ) but he did give me more. I have read that a lot of people suffering from chronic pain have a very hard time finding a doctor that will give any narcotics or if they will they aren't willing to up the dose.
 
I'm not sure why your doctor is discussing street prices with you (and we aren't permitted to discuss them here either) but it sounds like he is feeding you some gross exaggerations at best. Oxycodone is actually quite common as a breakthrough pain medication and is available in formulations that do not contain acetaminophen starting as low as 5mg. Oxycodone is also available in ER formulations ranging from 10-80mg (formerly 160mg), so there certainly exists a range of different strengths. There are numerous other options as far as long-acting opioid treatments are concerned. Buprenorphine (a long-acting, partial-agonist opioid) is even sometimes prescribed for breakthrough pain in microgram doses. Long story short, there may be some options that your current doctor hasn't mentioned. I'd definitely talk to a different specialist... this guy sounds like a quack.
 
Colonel Contin said:
I'm not sure why your doctor is discussing street prices with you (and we aren't permitted to discuss them here either) but it sounds like he is feeding you some gross exaggerations at best. Oxycodone is actually quite common as a breakthrough pain medication and is available in formulations that do not contain acetaminophen starting as low as 5mg. Oxycodone is also available in ER formulations ranging from 10-80mg (formerly 160mg), so there certainly exists a range of different strengths. There are numerous other options as far as long-acting opioid treatments are concerned. Buprenorphine (a long-acting, partial-agonist opioid) is even sometimes prescribed for breakthrough pain in microgram doses. Long story short, there may be some options that your current doctor hasn't mentioned. I'd definitely talk to a different specialist... this guy sounds like a quack.
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Thank you! He sounds UBER sketch balls... All I can think is someones feeding his wallet 3- 5 course meals a day. :/ Please look into a new dr for the sake of your health! I don't even know you and I was worried about you the second you said 2 people already died.. >.< Take care of yourself! <3
 
I forgot to mention, he has no business speaking to your parents about your medication regimen since you're over 18. Unless they are acting as your healthcare surrogate or power of attorney which has to be a legal document. What's up with that anyway?
 
T. Calderone I have no idea. While I don't live with my parents I am still close to them. My mother came along to the first 2 appointments simply bc i didn't know what the injections would tm do me exactl and if I would be able to drive myself home. But they said they could do injections at the first appt for insurance purposes so that's why she came with me the second time. But both times she sat out in the waiting room. And being that my mother doesn't like the idea of me in pain all day everyday or me taking powerful painkillers all day every day we reslly don't even talk about it. Other than the occasional how you doin. When I first signed the narcotic agreement papers before I got my first hydrocodone script he asked if my mom was okay with it. He said he didn't need her permission but my close family needs to be okay with it bc of all the dangers. I would be okay with telling my parents or whoever needed to know that I am taking stong medicine and it could potentially be dangerous but it could also be very beneficial to the treatment of my pain. And could possibly be the difference in me living a normal life vs a life that I dread waking up and suffering in agony with no end in sight. And these dangerous that every medication has are a lot less threatening when tht medicine is taken exactly how it's directed. What mother is going to walk into a doctors office with her 19 year old son and listen to the doctor say that it is questionable whether or not her son will wake up each and every morning and that this medicine has killed 2 people that he gave it to this year and the mother say yes that's it that's the one I want my 19 year old taking for the rest of his life. No. Not gunna happen like that.
 
If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been on hydrocodone? I ask because I am surprised that any doctor would put someone your age on 6-9 of the 10/325 hydrocodone tabs a day. And you still have breakthrough pain, and have it several times a day??

It may seem nice right now to be getting this much pain medication, but the last thing you want is to be planning on a lifetime of opiate/opioid therapy.
 
Like other people said, find a new doctor. I also have to deal with chronic pain, but my old PM doc would actually listen to me and even started me on a long acting + breakthrough med on my first visit which really improved my quality of life. Many docs are hesitant with young people, and I was injured at 19 also so I know how it is, but if you bring all your MRI's/X-ray's and documentation of prior treatments I don't think you should have any trouble.
 
This doctor of yours may be under investigation and ultra paranoid about covering his ass.He could be what some call a "candy man" doctor.He may have patients to whom he is prescribing methadone for migrains.I've been to a couple of doctors like that in the past.In one case,I kid you not,on my very first visit one of them asked me straight up "so what do you want?"This doctor was well known among my friends for doing this(it was through several friends that I heard of him as "the man to see").I was honest and up front with him and truthfully answered yes when asked if I had any prior history of drug abuse.I still left his office that very first visit with prescriptions for Xanax,oxycodone,and carisoprodol and it was on from there.I went to him for a while and he was very accomodating.If I asked for an increase in my Xanax,I got it.When I told him I needed a stronger pain med,I got it.Things continued happily like this for a good while until one visit when he abruptly cut me off because of my prior history of substance abuse.I was shocked because this had never been a problem before.He admitted frankly to me that the climate had changed and he was under investigation so it was not worth risking his practice to continue to prescribe me narcotics.That may be the case with your doctor.If he is prescribing increasingly higher doses of hydrocodone to someone as young as you he may very well have lots of patients he writes for Oxycontin,morphine,Demerol etc....In that case he would have to be careful of how many high powered prescriptions he is handing out.The DEA tends to become suspicious when three quarters of the prescriptions a doctor writes are for OC 80s.Thus he gives the young guy the weaker hydrocodone so his office doesn't look like a pill mill.Of course this is speculation on my part but it's based on experiences I've had with other doctors.Then again,due to the nature of your injuries and level of pain at such a young age,he may forsee you needing chronic pain care for many years and doesn't want you to early on get to a level of medication where there is nothing stronger to go to when your pain increases as you get older.That has been the case with my pain.When I had my reconstructive surgery at age 23 my surgeon told me it would only get worse as I get older and he was right.It hurts way more now at 40 and I'm holding on to my 10mg oxycodone as long as possible because I know at 50 I will most likely really need something stronger and I don't want to be immune to all but the strongest of opiates.Just a couple of different possibilities to mull over based on my own experience with chronic pain management.I do hope you get effective treatment so that your pain is at least bearable.That's pretty much the best those of us in chronic pain can hope for.All the best dude,chronic pain sucks and it makes life miserable.
 
With him wanting to get his parents involved and only suggesting a half pill increase it doesn't sound like he's a pill mill, just a doctor hesitant with a younger patient. While that's fine, if the OP is left to suffer cause he's scared of dealing with a younger patient he's not doing himself any favors by staying and being in agony daily. I did the same thing at first, sticking with a doc that wasn't really helping, when a simple change to the awesome doctor I had was one of best things I did for controlling my pain.
 
My first script of hydrocodone (5/325) was aroun 9 months ago. I don't intend to continue opioid therapy for the rest of my life but if it comes to that then I am open to it. I've said all along ever since my very first appt with a primary doctor several months before I was sent to pain management that I want to take medicine until I find a way to fix it. Bc for the first 4 or 5 months I just suffered. We would try one thing and when it didn't help I had to suffer for another month until my next visit. So I just want medicine that helps while I try other methods so if it doesn't help I don't have I suffer until I try somthing else. My father has really bad back pain as we'll and he's been on oxycontin for several years. He took hydrocodone for breakthrough pain for 7 years and now he takes oxycodone for breakthrough pain. He is also very confused on this docotors methods. I have had to take 9 every day. I would much rather take oxycontin or somthing long acting around the clock and only have to take maye 4 hydrocodone a day. I think that would be the right decision. That's what my father has done for his treatment.
 
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